Getting in the door is getting harder and harder, so making the most of every time you do get through the door is becoming more and more important.

Over the years, I have seen many salespeople and business owners taking big risks with important deals by talking to only one person in the prospect company. A common outcome of this kind of “single threading” is “radio silence” after a proposal is submitted—no returned calls or emails, and ultimately no deal.

Getting in the door is getting harder and harder, so making the most of every time you do get through the door is becoming more and more important.

Over the years, I have seen many salespeople and business owners taking big risks with important deals by talking to only one person in the prospect company. A common outcome of this kind of “single threading” is “radio silence” after a proposal is submitted—no returned calls or emails, and ultimately no deal.

I agree with Zvi Band the author of the book Success is in your Sphere that “relationships are our most important asset”.  From everything I’ve seen, if you want to outperform in sales in the long run, you need to build your own network of people that know, like and trust you. No amount of technology or great messaging will get you even close to the salesperson with a top-notch Rolodex.

Success is in your Sphere shows you how to build a world-class network and maintain it. The book presents a framework for building relationships called “CAPITAL”. Here’s how the framework breaks down.

I must admit to being a bit partial to the sales approaches laid out in Jamie Shanks’s book SPEAR Selling. Many of my thoughts on how to sell to major accounts show up on the pages of this book. Here’s a quick run through on a couple of the major elements of the book.